Reflections
by NinMandi
Summary: LozxTifa Tifa re-examines her life with Cloud after the events of Advent Children . Just a story that doesn't really go anywhere.


**Author's Note/Disclaimer:** I do not own _Final Fantasy VII_, _Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children_, any of its official characters or franchise. That belongs to Square Soft/Enix. Thanks Bryan Adams for the song "Please Forgive Me"! Yeah, another story inspired by another cheesy love song that I can't get enough of. Heh.

**Reflections**

_"So if you're feelin' lonely don't - you're the only one I ever want."_

Bryan Adams, _Please Forgive Me_

_Here he comes again... _thought Tifa as she wiped up the last shot glass. _Always here right before I close up._ He walked up to the wooden bar, black boots clanking against the hard-wood floors. A slight layer of drizzle lay upon his black leather suit and dripped from his short-cut and greased back silver hair. He looked at her with his striking green eyes, the eyes of her once enemy that killed someone dear to her and destroyed her Nibelheim. But these eyes were slightly different; while the viscous fluid taken from the calamity Jenova still coursed through his veins, these eyes told a different story from his brothers', from the ex-members of SOLDIER. Through his frequent visits to the 7th Heaven, through the hours of small talk while he sat at his favorite bar stool, she found something else in his eyes; something that had nothing to do with contempt, however she couldn't figure out what.

"Hey Loz. How's your hammer hanging?" she asked as she tossed up and caught a tall beer mug and filled it with his favorite lager.

"It's hanging..." he said awkwardly, not familiar with the phrase nor how to respond to it. She giggled while her back was turned; he was a grown man but still carried a child-like demeanor that was undeniably addictive. She slid the frosty glass down to where he sat, then approached closer and leaned her elbows against the wood.

"I mean, how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm okay." he took a long drag from the mug, leaving a frosty mustache just above his lip. She laughed without reserve and made a hand gesture above her own lip. He promptly wiped away the matter, cheeks turning rosy. "Sorry." he muttered, but she shook her head.

"Forget about it." As she said there was a stirring above the bar, and soon after came the small padded sound of Marlene's slippered feet. Soon she was at the foot of the stair leading up to the cramp apartment Tifa continued to share with this little girl, Cloud, and Denzel. After rubbing some sleep from her eye, a beaten and torn Tonberry stuffed animal hanging from her other hand, she became more coherent and her face lighten with the ambience of a fluorescent bulb at the sight of Loz. With a squeak of glee she bolted forward and leapt into Loz's waiting arms, burying her face into his shoulder.

"Loz!" she wailed happily, snuggling closer to the silver-haired giant, he balancing her carefully on his lap.

"How are you, Moogle?" he asked, addressing her by the pet name he cooked up for her. Tifa could never figure out how he came up with the ridiculously sweet name, but she liked it and liked how he got along with the kids even better. She laughed at the sight of the two cuddling and giggling, like a father and his little girl. She thought that, though she's so goddam tired at the end of the day (taking orders, making drinks, getting your behind slapped a dozen or more times, and just being on her feet all day taking care of a bar on her own can wear on anyone after so long), this is why she keeps the bar open a little longer past the closing time, when no one else is around, is for moments with Loz. Perhaps at times not much is said between the two (after all, he does have that child-like demeanor), when he left and she officially closed up shop, she felt rejuvenated. Sephiroth was defeated a second time, and the Geo Stigma was exterminated, life was beginning to get back to normal. Tifa and Cloud no longer slept in separate beds; they shared one whole, and sometimes more than that in the wee hours of the night. Cloud broke free from his depressive shell once more, and continued his delivery service and kept in better contact with their past friends. He opened up more to her and the children, becoming more of a fatherly and husbandly figure to their small family of sorts, but something was missing from the picture perfect lifestyle the four of them portrayed. Just...something.

"Loz! I drew you a picture! Hold on!" Marlene took the giant leap from Loz's tall lap and dashed upstairs in an excited stupor. He looked after her sadly, and Tifa picked up on the subtle cue.

"Still feel bad for having to kidnap her?" she asked, startling Loz from his thoughts.

"Greatly."

"She doesn't hold anything against you, Loz, as you can plainly see." she smiled, trying to console the gentle giant. He gave her an appreciative smile, but she knew it was going nowhere.

"Yeah, I'm glad. Really."

"Loz, it wasn't you. It was those damned brothers of yours, putting all those crazy thoughts and notions into your head. I gotta say though," she then playfully punched him in the arm, "it made you a pretty tough opponent."

He chuckled, and she was grateful. "Yeah, I'm--"

"Stop right there." Tifa interfered. "Don't worry about it. I'm not."

There was a small ruckus in the above apartment, and the muttered talk of Marlene as she tried to figure out where she placed Loz's present.

"But--" he began to protest, but suddenly stopped when Tifa began to crack her knuckles. He shook his head and took another swig of his beer. He diverted his eyes, his brow crinkled, and his cheeks flushed once again. "How's Cloud?"

She shrugged, looking down. "Cloud is Cloud."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He cocked an eyebrow; she scowled. "What?"

"Doesn't seem like nothing is wrong." he downed the last of his beer.

"Well nothing is wrong," she began to pour him another drink. Marlene was still searching above. Cloud is Cloud. He returned to his normal disposition he once had, pre-SOLDIER days. But it wasn't enough for her. In fact, after all these years of chasing after him, worrying about him, living with him, it became apparent that it was _he _that wasn't enough for her. When they kissed, or when they made love, there was no spark. She always believed there would be a spark between she and the boy she's had a crush on since childhood, but nothing and it was terribly disappointing. Now they're living together, and her slight gust has festooned into a massive whirlwind. She cared for him, she cared for him deeply, but that was all. For all the things he's done for her she will be eternally grateful for, but no one can force another to fall in love. No, but someone can cause another to fall _out _of love.

"Tifa?" came Loz's voice, snapping her out of her thoughts. A cold liquid could be felt on her hand, and as she looked down she realized the beer she had been pouring for Loz was overflowing the mug and spilling everywhere, her hand on the spout all but motionless. She jumped, shook her head and began to soak up the fluid with a nearby dishrag.

"Dammit..." she murmured. Loz watched with concern.

"Are you sure you're all right Tifa?" but as soon as the words were uttered down came Marlene, bouncing over to her uncle Loz with a piece of paper flopping in the breeze. She bounced back into his lap.

"Here!" she pushed the paper into Loz's massive hands. He straightened it out and smiled. It showed a childish drawing of Marlene dressed as a Moogle and Loz holding her up high. He couldn't restrain his delight which in turned caused Marlene to flush and laugh.

"Do you like it?" she asked eagerly.

"I love it," he smiled.

"All right gang, time for everyone four-feet tall and under to go back to bed." Tifa scooped up Marlene, forgetting that she wasn't so little anymore. The little girl sighed unhappily, and waved 'bye' to Loz over Tifa's shoulder.

* * *

* *

Once Tifa tucked Marlene in, and gave her a goodnight kiss, a small hand gripped around Tifa's wrist. "When?"

Tifa looked puzzled, staring straight into Marlene's eyes. "What?"

"_When_?" she repeated frustrated.

"I don't know what you mean Marlene."

"I mean when are you going to love uncle Loz?" she asked. Shivers raced up and down Tifa's spine; sometimes the perception of this child was eerily strong. Since she was young Marlene was able to pry into the hearts of the adults around her and know exactly what he or she was feeling. She's years beyond her age.

"Marlene, these things are...complicated. Besides, don't you love Cloud?"  
"Yes. But we're not talking about me."

Sighing, Tifa turned and said goodnight once more, then began to descend the stairs to the bar.

"Sorry about that Loz. I tell you Loz, when you enter the building it's like a radar goes off in her--" but she couldn't go on. No one was around. The bar was empty, except for several pieces of Gil (enough to cover the booze) and a note scribbled on a bar napkin: "Until tomorrow. Loz."

The place seemed awfully empty without the sweeten behemoth. She didn't like it, didn't like the way the upside down chairs atop the tables stared at her, how the motionless stools stood at attention, the reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Especially the reflection in the: it wasn't Tifa Lockhart, martial artist extraordinaire and bartender wonder who helped save the world once up a time. Not yet; maybe it wasn't the Tifa Lockhart she remembered, but she had potential, and a lot at that.

_I mean when are you going to love uncle Loz?_

She flicked the light off and smiled as she locked the front doors and climbed the stairs.

Oh, she had potential all right.


End file.
